Compiled by Wael Salem

The new city of El Alamein belongs to Marsa Matrouh Governorate. The New Alamein City extends 48km from the Alex-Matrouh International Road. The area of New Alamein is 50,000 acres, which is a huge area that provided an opportunity to implement many diverse projects.

On the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, New Alamein owns 14km of the North Coast, which has a picturesque nature. The main objective of building the new city of El Alamein on the North Coast is to overcome overcrowding and allow a larger segment of people to reach their dream and live in an integrated and developed coastal city.

Unlike the resorts on the northwest coast that are known for their high cost and private beaches, New Alamein offers open and free beaches to the public.

Mine area transforming into 4th generation city

Five years ago, the whole world knew Alamein as one of the largest mine areas all over the world, especially the countries who participated in the World War II where the Battle of El Alamein took place.   It was just a desert area full of mines and many graves for all nationalities till 2018.

According to the State Information Service (SIS), out of a total of 110 million landmines planted around the world, Egypt has 23 million, in the Western Desert and Eastern Desert, planted during WWII mostly by the British during the occupation.

Upon directives from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the mine area Alamein has been transformed to a fourth generation city and become one of the best cities in the whole world.

In 2018, President Sisi directed the official authorities concerned to establish New Alamein.

“New Alamein transformed the coastal area to integrated residential area,” Ibrahim el-Masry, Professor of Economics at Sadat Academy, said.

“It combines between the residential, economic and cultural dimensions, which makes it easily competes with all the major old cities throughout the republic, such as Cairo,” el-Masry told the Egyptian Mail.

Five years of hard working was an enough time to make New Alamein achieve what many other cities from the first, second and third generation couldn’t achieve till now, he added.

New Alamein represents now an advanced pattern in the Egyptian urbanisation process, el-Masry said.

“New Alamien’s location attracts local and international investors to launch their projects in the new city, especially that it is so close to the new power station and the new road networks,” el-Masry said.

He added that this will provide a lot of vacancies to the unemployed people.

The fourth generation city becomes now headquarter of the presidential meetings at the regional, national and international levels. Furthermore, the Council of Ministers was established there to discuss all the state’s issues.

It became the official vacation resort for the presidential family and senior ministers which was not witnessed in any other city since 1952 after Alexandria.

Egypt should make a strategic plan to get the best use of Alamein like what was previously done in the New Suez Canal, according to Egyptian economist Rashad Abdo.

“We can exploit the current circumstances in the world to our advantage by reducing the costs which will attract the investors to a safe area and moderate atmosphere” Abdo told the Mail.

The country has developed the coastal roads to become lifelines that better integrate huge national projects with the rest of the country.

It also constructed the first drinking water production plant with condensation technology, with a production capacity of 100,000 litres of water per day.

The city of entertainment, arts

A month and a half of entertainment, arts, sports and culture were launched last month in New Alamein city. The first edition of the New Alamein City Festival kicked off on 13 July and will continue until 26 August.

The festival, which aims to attract more than a million visitors, started with beach soccer and teqball tournaments. Teqball featured the world’s female champions Brazilian Natalia Guitler and Serbian Maja Umicevic.

New Alamein does not only serve as a summer resort but is built to function all year round. Besides the government district, it includes universities, schools, hospitals, an opera house, cinema complex, museums, heritage sites, art and cultural venues and international hotels, as well as cultural and tourist arenas.

“Alamein festival represents an extraordinary event, a mixture of culture, arts, sports, and tourism,” Minister of Culture Nevine Al-Kilani said at a recent press conference inaugurating the event.

American rapper Russell James Vitale, known as Russ, is expected to perform in the coastal city on 25 August. It will be the third concert for Russ in Egypt, following performances held at the Pyramids in 2022 and in Al-Massa in New Alamein city in 2019.

Loaay Al-Khatib, a digital content creator, lauded the massive transformation of the site from a desert full of mines a few years back to a vibrant city.

New Alamein is planned to host four million residents. The Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime was the first university to open a campus in the city.

The new city of Alamein has many advantages attracting people to think about moving and residing in it or even taking the investment step.

New Alamein projects

The new city of Al Alamein comes as an integrated city that owns the historical part and provides housing opportunities and is also a city suitable for tourism. In addition, the city aims to accommodate and provide services that suit all segments of society.

New Alamein City projects provide nearly 10,000 housing units in addition to commercial malls, hotels, parks, and entertainment venues, as well as schools and universities, including Al-Alamein International University.

Features of the city

The city is divided into tourism; historical and residential sectors. The tourism sector is located on the Mediterranean coast, the investment segment is located south of the Alex-Matrouh International Road, and the historical and archaeological segment is located in the El Alamein Cemetery.

The city’s tourism sector consists of several areas: Lake El Alamein area (Hotels District), City Centre, Distinguished Residential District, Al Alamein Gardens District, Al Fanara Marina, Conference Centre (Private Resort), and Recreational District, Cultural Centre, Tourist Housing, Masaken Al Buhaira District and the fairgrounds area.

The hotel area will match the Dubai Towers, and celebrations will be held in it on occasions, and the number of hotel rooms is 15,500 rooms.

The historical area consists of an open museum, an international park, a recreational area, hotels and port services.

The city contains an international medical centre with an area of ​​44 acres, a university and a regional service center.

There are 8 separate platforms overlooking the sea, and towers on each platform reach a height of 35 metres. The towers consist of 3 commercial and administrative floors and a basement garage next to the residential units.

New Alamein owns a heritage city on an area of ​​259 acres.

The city contains an international corniche along the beach with a length of 14 km, which is equal to the Corniche of Alexandria Governorate.

A high-speed electric train with a speed of 250 k ph connects the 6th of October city with the city of El Alamein, with a length of about 221 km, parallel to the Wadi El-Natrun / El Alamein road.

Silicon production complex

The government has begun the implementation of the silicon production complex in New Alamein City. The project will be built on a 200-feddan area in four stages, with the aim of providing locally-made products of silicon and its derivatives.

The first phase of the project will be carried out with about $172 million in investments, with an annual production capacity of 45,000 tons.

The second phase of the project will be dedicated to the production of silicon derivatives with an initial production capacity of 60,000 to 100,000 tons a year, while the third stage will cover the production of polycrystalline silicon with an initial capacity of 10,000 annually.

As for the fourth stage, it will witness the establishment of a complex for small- and medium-scale industries, with the purpose of exporting the final production.

The country’s revenue from the production of metallic silicon will be $3,400 per ton and from the production of polysilicon will be $15,000 per ton compared to sale of quartz – the raw material – at about $15 per ton.